barista making a cup of coffee

Edinburgh Coffee Festival comes to the Corn Exchange in just over two weeks, and has announced that it will be the first coffee festival in the UK to go ‘zero waste’.

On Saturday 14th October, the Corn Exchange will play host to the third Edinburgh Coffee Festival – an event which is expected to bring together 3,000 coffee lovers, 40 speciality coffee and tea exhibitors and some of the best hot chocolate, coffee cocktails, food and cake from across Scotland.

For the first time this year, the event is proud to be going zero waste and it will be the first coffee festival in the UK to do so. The festival’s organisers are eager to encourage visitors to think about how they can use compostable or reusable cups when ordering and consuming their favourite hot beverage from one of the capital’s many coffee shops.

Every day in the UK over 7 million coffee cups are thrown away and only 1 per cent are recycled. The Edinburgh Coffee Festival will work with Frank Green – producers of the stylish reusable SmartCup, and local company Vegware, who offer a ‘Close the Loop’ service so that composting collections are available to businesses across Scotland, taking used food waste for industrial composting and making it into high-grade horticultural compost.

Martin Dare, event organiser said:

“The fact that people around the world are celebrating International Coffee Day this weekend shows just how popular coffee has become in recent years. With everyone leading such busy lifestyles, coffee is increasingly consumed on the go, and we want to encourage visitors to the Edinburgh Coffee Festival to think carefully about how much waste that generates and work with us to make the event zero waste.”

The Festival will feature demonstrations and talks on tasting, coffee and tea brewing skills and even advice on how to set up a coffee shop. For those who want to go a bit more in-depth, there will be a half-day ‘Introduction to coffee’ course where people will learn about the science of roasting, brewing and sensory skills.

Martin continued:

“The Edinburgh Coffee Festival brings everyone together under one roof, from roasters to baristas, master cake makers to foodie bloggers and tea connoisseurs. It’s a fantastic way to taste loads of delicious beverages and get to know the great coffee scene we have here in the capital.”

This year the Edinburgh Coffee Festival is continuing to support Mercy Corps – an Edinburgh-based charity that works on some of the world’s toughest challenges. Mercy Corps works with coffee farmers to help them build more sustainable livelihoods. In Colombia, one of their initiatives strengthens the autonomy and economic empowerment of 1,800 rural female coffee farmers in Southern Cauca.

Tickets to the Edinburgh Coffee Festival can be purchased online at www.edinburghcoffeefestival.co.uk and start at £10.